Nonda loads semi-final dice against Chelsea high rollers

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YESTERDAY was not the time for Claudio Ranieri to be accusing Roman Abramovich of knowing nothing about football. Not when his Chelsea team were ripped apart by the ten men of AS Monaco in their European Cup semi-final first leg, thanks in large part to the Italian’s suicidal tinkering.

In trying to capitalise on Akis Zikos’s red card, Ranieri started a spin cycle of changes that succeeded only in throwing the advantage straight back to Monaco. As Chelsea lost all their shape, confidence and discipline — the formation at the final whistle was anyone’s guess — Fernando Morientes and Shabani